China to Send 4 More Probes into Space Before 2021

On Friday, China’s State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense officially announced that the country is planning to launch four more probes into space by the year 2021. This is all part of the Asian giant’s efforts to establish a space science. It’s interesting that this announcement comes after China also launched the first X-ray space telescope. This has the purpose to observe pulsars, gamma-ray bursts, and black holes. However, until then, the China-Italy Electromagnetic Monitoring Experiment Satellite will launch in August. According to reports, this will study some phenomena which have to do with earthquakes.

China’s ambitious space plans

It’s also important to note that the China-France Oceanography Satellite will also launch next year. This one will reportedly conduct studies on ocean-surface wind and waves and will supposedly improve ocean waves forecasts. Also, it will prevent and improve efficiency when it comes to disasters. After that, in 2021, China will again launch an astronomical satellite which it developed together with France. This one will reportedly gather data on gamma rays. Scientists are hoping that this satellite will shed some light on how the universe evolved over time. In 2020, China will launch its first Mars probe. This one will explore the Red Planet through orbiting and roving processes. According to National Space Administration deputy chief Wu Yanhua, another probe will follow this one. The second one will have the mission to collect samples from Mars.

Those four probes are going to represent the country’s most important missions, as part of its space program. Still, it seems like China doesn’t want to stop here and has even more plans. In the following year, the nation wants to have a lunar mission and even a Jupiter one. China wants its own lunar mission to explore the dark side of the moon, something that has never been done before.

A step into the future

With these recent plans, China seems to want to make up for the fact that it arrived late at the space exploration party. It didn’t send its own space satellite until 1970. At the time, the United States had already sent a manned mission to the moon. The country’s ambitions are to be among the world’s greatest space powers by the year 2030.